Finding Hatter
by engravingwords
Summary: This isn't a story I wanted to tell. This isn't a story with a happy ending. It's about magical stone, a strange land and a lost friend. It's about finding your sanity in a land where everything is anything but sane. It's about solving life's puzzles one riddle at a time. But most of all it's about a girl. The girl. This is the story of Alice's last trip to wonderland.
1. Rutledge Asylum

Story Disclaimer: This story is bringing together my favourite Alice in Wonderland concepts across video games, television and stories. This includes America McGee's Alice games, HBO's Alice, Once Upon A Time's Alice, and the classical Alice in Wonderland. Please enjoy, and feel free to comment.

* * *

"Alice… talk to us." She stared at the grey wall in front of her. Cold brick offering no support to her mind. Her blonde hair once shining gold had lost it's lush and luster. Resting heavy and flat on her thin shoulders.

"Alice… where did you go for so long?" She had been a missing person for 2 years. Her family had near given up hope when a stranger found her unconscious on the shore line. It hadn't been her first time in Wonderland but it had been her longest. And although time passes so much slower down the rabbit hole, her last mission took longer than expected. She spent 10 years in the strange land, searching for the hatter before the suits pushed her through the looking glass.

She couldn't tell them about Wonderland. She'd sworn not to, so many years ago when she first stumbled upon the Blue Caterpillar, the Door Mouse and the March Hare as a child. She took an oath by the swords of the Queen of Hearts on her thirteenth birthday to protect the world of Wonderland. And although now she had been banished by the Queen herself, she didn't want anyone to find her home. She wasn't going to stop looking for…

"Alice… who is Hatter? You call for him in your sleep. Was he who kept you captive?"

She looked away from the wall and at the doctors in front over her. They exchanged glances and the bald man put his pen to his pad.

"Why is a Raven like a writing desk?" She asked.

The doctors both sighed and motioned to the nurse hovering by the door. "Take her back to her room. She is of no use right now."

The nurse grabbed her arm and escorted her into the shadowed hallway. Dim buzzing lamps barely lit the walls. She could hear fellow patients moaning and crying from their rooms. A loud scream rang out and nurses ran past into a room, dragging a shrieking girl to the end of the hall and through the laboratory doors.

Rutledge Asylum wasn't just for the crazy. It was for the purely criminally insane. The ones determined to be the dangers to society. The ones like Alice.

Her bare feet dragged along the cold floor, and her gown swept the ground beside her. "New patient," one nurse said as she passed and the other replied. Alice lifted her head to get a look at the new inmate and caught the eyes of a boy about her age. She gasped, "Knave?" and he winked at her. A small and familiar smirk on his face. Then he bowed his head, moving with the nurse as she guided him to an empty room.

"Another one of your characters Alice? You should stop with the silly stories and maybe they'd let you free." She unlocked a metal door and released Alice from her grasp, nudging her gently into the room. "Get some rest dear," she added before shutting the door and locking Alice in.

The blonde girl sat on her bed and furrowed her brow. The blanket was itchy against her bare legs so she pulled her knees into her chest and hugged them tight. _Why was the Knave here from Wonderland? Did he come to bring her back? Did he know something about Hatter?_

Alice has been stuck at Rutledge Asylum for 6 months. 6 Months would be almost 2 and a half years in Wonderland. Why had he come back to get her after all this time? He must know something…

She put her hands in her hair and gripped it tight trying hard to think of the answer to the question she had been asking herself for so long.

"Why is a Raven like a writing desk?"


	2. The Stone Doors

Disclaimer: The story line is mine, but any quotes that seem familiar or minute details you can recall probably are not. I tried to keep the characters loyal, and this is my way of paying tribute to an amazing story and concept that carried me through my childhood. Hope you enjoy!

The stone doors stood at the edge of the White Knight's Forest. They stood, one could guess, 50 feet tall, engraved with beautiful and intricate designs. There were no walls attached, simply more forest. Despite their oddish placement, in the middle of nowhere with nothing around, they were truly something.

These doors were said to be the entrance to the White Knight's ancient kingdom. Though nobody had entered since the Queen had wiped them out in a bloody battle decades before. It was remembered as a magnificent kingdom of magic, where the buildings were made of the stone mined by the oldest tribes of the Calmens mountains. It was said the stone couldn't be destroyed even by the darkest of magic. But those were just legends and both the ancient tribes protected by the White Knights, and the White Knights themselves were now extinct. Legend also said that the kingdom was a hiding place for the stone of Wonderland. Hidden during the great battle so the Queen could not get her hands on it's power, the stone was a precious crystal with such great power that men pined and murdered and died to try and find it. But no one could get past the enchanted stone doors.

The stone was key to finding hatter, and Alice would do anything to get her hands on it.

The troupe had been walking for weeks on end, through forest and marsh, dangerous terrain, and countless battles to stand before the doorway. Alice stared up at the massive door, with a furrow in her brow. For some strange reason she didn't expect it to be so tall. She had been many sizes before, big and small, but standing in front of these doors she had never felt tinier. She reached into her satchel with her left hand, a long shining sword resting in her right. She ditched the blue dress a few months back for a white cotton blouse made from a cotton-poof tree, brown pants woven from a collection of Donegal weeds, and leather said to be from the mythical Chimaera. A leather with a pungent smell that was undetectable by humans, but could be picked up by the notorious Jabberwocky miles away. Chimaera, you may not know, are the one creature the Jabberwocky fears. Though Alice wasn't to worried about the vicious Jabberwocky herself, for nobody had seen him in a hundred years.

"Well how do we get in?" A hare saddled-up beside her and stared upwards as well, scratching a patch of hair behind his long ears. He wore a small velvet coat and a tiny purple top hat to match. The Mad Hatter made him the hat after a long tea party they held many many years before. "The party to shame all tea parties" Hatter announced as his friends sat down for tea. His hair wild and crazy beneath his well-made hat, with sewing pins poking out the brim and lavish ribbons tied around the top. He was a strange character or so anyone would think upon first sight. He was tall and lean in a lovely suit jacket. His skin a little too pale, his eyes a little too bright. He wasn't unattractive by any means, but one wouldn't doubt to say he was a tad unkempt.

It hadn't been a long time since their last tea party. Their dishes from previous still on the table. Old chipped tea cups, plates with crumbs and teaspoons were scattered along the checkered table cloth still wet as though tea time was only a few hours before. According to Hatter it was always six, ever since the Queen accused him of murdering his good friend Time during a song performance at her annual spring concert. "Ever since that, he won't do a thing I ask!" Hatter liked to complain.

This particular tea party was of the utmost significance to the March Hare. The friends hadn't been sitting long before a small blonde girl walked up to the large table. The table could seat comfortably twelve, yet one corner was crowded by only three. `No room! No room!' they cried out when they saw her approach.

`There's PLENTY of room!' she retorted as she sat down.

This was the night that they had met Alice, and to celebrate their new friend the Mad Hatter had made them all hats. After Hatter's disappearance Mad March (his friends called him) refused to take it off.

"I'm not sure," she touched the door, and although it was a summer day the stone was freezing cold. "Curiouser and curiouser…"

"According to the book I got from the Gryphon…" Alice started pulling vials and bits of mushroom and cake from her bag. She pull out the sleeping Doormouse and handed him to Mad March, who placed him gently into his velvet coat pocket. She pulled out a great large book made of parchment and bound in leather. One would see this book and think " _what a strong girl this Alice must be, carrying such a heavy book around all day"_ but the book weighed no more than a feather and Alice held it in one hand with ease. She flipped it open to a page that was bookmarked. "We have the Vorpal sword that slayed a Jabberwocky. So, I guess finding the door was step one, Vorpal sword is step two."

"What is step three?" The little Door mouse yawned poking his tiny head out from the March Hare's pocket.

"The test," Alice approached the large doors slowly and lifted the sword. It gleamed in the sunlight and sparked as she drew it across the hard stone. Clouds drifted over head casting a shadow and the door in front of her began to glow. It was a beautiful sight, light spewing from the tip of the sword where it touched he frame, filling every engraving and every crevice until the whole door was bright like the mid-day sun. At Alice's eye level, door began to pop and spark as words began to form. The words were written in an ancient text and Alice wouldn't be able to decipher them without the Gryphon's book. _If only there was something I could eat that would give me more arms._

"Mad March," Alice turned her head and the hare was staring, mouth gaped wide open. "March!" He shook his head as if coming out of a chance, and eyes still wide rushed towards her. "Hold the sword, it has to stay touching the door."

As the March Hare struggled to hold the heavy sword up, Alice reached into her bag and pulled out a small chunk of coal and a piece of parchment. She placed the parchment over the ancient engraved text and began scratching the coal along the note to reveal the message on the page. Just as she reached the end, the loud whinny of a horse broke the silence, the March Hare gasped dropping the sword and the light of the door went dark. It was nothing but a very tall door again.

"Alice I'm so sorry," the hare stuttered trying pick the sword back up.

"Don't worry Mad March, I got what I need," she smiled, picking up the sword, her satchel and shoving the parchment into her pocket. "Now let's get out of here before whoever is on that horse shows up."

The **Great Bumbleberry Tree:**

The Bumbleberry Tree stood a thousand feet tall and its trunk a 100 feet in diameter. It was the oldest tree in Wonderland. Said to be the first bumbleberry tree to ever grow in the soil and produced the sweetest berries in the land. It wasn't easy to find a bumble berry tree anymore. Once its spoils were discovered people sought out the tree to strip it branches of the abundance of different berries, and to chop its sweet smelling wood for their fires. Some even used it to build their homes, so everyday they would walk in to smell the fruity delicious mouthwatering scent of the bumbleberry wood. But this particular bumbleberry tree wasn't a tree for chopping, nor was anyone allowed to steal its spoils.

Alice and her travelling group walked up to the large Bumbleberry tree, and found the little notch in the bark indicating the door. She knocked three times and patiently waited. She could hear a small ruckus behind the bark, when suddenly a little sliding door opened up and a gruff voice cleared its throat before speaking. "How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail?"

"He pours the waters of the Nile, on every golden scale." Alice replied plainly, and the man behind the door shut the little window. With great effort it seemed that he pushed the door open, for when Alice and the March Hare walked through the doorway they noticed that they were following a dodo bird. The pair exchanged amused glances as the dodo waddled ahead of them and through the second door into a large room with several tables and chairs.

There was a small crowd today at the Caucus Tea Room. Many of the chairs and tables were filled. Patrons happily sipped on the sweet tea brewed from the leaves of the tree, and munched on toast with bumbleberry jam, or scones or biscuits alike. The group shuffled their way by the chatty patrons to an empty table in the back corner, and they took a seat.

The March Hare pulled the sleepy Dormouse from his pocket and placed him on the table. "Now it's time to wake up," he poked the little mouse who yawned without opening his eyes. "It's 6 o'clock and time for tea!"

"And I need you to help me with this passage," Alice pulled the Gryphon's book from her back and the parchment out of her pocket. She flipped to the pages to help identify the text.

A tall thin hare approached the table. She wore a tiny apron, her eyes big and wide, and bows at the end of her long ears. "Can I take your order?" She asked and the March Hare sat straight up, ears pointed high. He shook slightly, his foot tapping under the table. He seemed nervous.

"Hi Dinah," he spoke. Alice perked up slightly. Dinah was her beloved cat as a child, who passed away a long time ago. Curious that this creature had the same name.

"March," she spoke coldly. Hardly giving him a second glance. "Tea I presume," she wrote on her pad without waiting for an answer.

"And toast!" Chimed the little door mouse from his spot on the table. Dinah simply nodded and walked away.

Alice looked at Mad March with question as he sat muttering to himself and wringing his hands. "What was that about?"

March perked up again now more embarrassed than anything, "Oh… Dinah and I… a while back… it didn't end well." Alice nodded with understanding so the spastic hare didn't need to continue.

She put her attention back on the book, and the little piece of paper laying on the spine. "According to this, the text it from the tribes of the Vruln's mountains, which I guess would make sense."

"But would it?" the dormouse asked, and Alice merely smiled. Since she began her journey with the funny pair, she had gotten used to them saying incredulous or questionable things. That was the nature of wonderland. Where the impossible was possible, and the probable seemed unlikely.. She remembered hatter used to say "sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast." This was how Alice came to live her life.

"Surely not, but it seems it is," she noted and continued to read. "If we decipher this text and write it out…" she scribbled plenty on the front of the note and well onto the back, pausing only a moment to sip her tea as Dinah placed it on the table. "Well this is strange."

Mad March leaned over to get a look, "what is it? What does it say?"

"Why is a Raven like a writing desk?" Alice looked up at March quite quickly. "Isn't that…"

"Hatter!" Dormouse squeaked loudly as if he was abruptly woken from a dream.

She saw a glimpse of crazy enter March's eyes and a big wide smile appeared on his face. "I knew hatter was mad. He never did give us the answer."

"He didn't know the answer," Alice recalled from their first tea party together. Hatter was known for riddles, and it almost seemed like a sign that they were going in the right direction. But how were they to figure out the answer to a riddle even the Mad Hatter didn't know. "Any ideas?" she asked looking around the table.

"Well they both stand on stick," Mad March offered taking a bite of bumbleberry toast. "Or they are both approached with caws?"

"Clever," Alice smiled. "I don't understand how that will help us open the door though." She stared intently at the page willing the answer to just pop out.

The sleepy dormouse yawned again, "There is a B in both and an N in neither." She looked down at him perplexed and patted his little head.

"I don't think it will be as easy as just having a guess at it," she sighed and stood up, picking up her things. Alice always took her things with her wherever she went. Never letting the book or sword or bag out of sight. Wonderland was filled with thieves. "Excuse me."

Alice walked behind the wooden wall that hid the bathroom doors. Once in the bathroom she stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was long and curly, the shiniest gold it had ever been. Her skin tanned from days in the outdoors, her eyes bright from adventure.

Alice quite liked the version of herself in Wonderland. Much better than back in London, where she felt so misunderstood. Her heart panged a little with regret. She missed her family of course, and she knew they would be really worried. She had been in Wonderland for almost 10 years. She never intended to stay this long, but she had been tasked with the greatest task a protector of Wonderland could, by the wise blue caterpillar himself. To take down the house of cards. It had taken longer than she had hoped, as Hatter would have been here to help. His great wit and madness would've carried them far and quick through their journey. They were nearing the end, planning their attack when he went missing. In the middle of the night, without a sound he disappeared leaving nothing but his hat. That is how Alice knew he was in danger. The Mad Hatter would never go anywhere without his hat.

She sighed, washed her hands and left the bathroom. Almost immediately a hand clasped over her mouth, she was pulled aside and pinned against a wall. Alice reached for her sword and prepared to fight back when she realized she was staring at a shaggy but familiar man. Wild black curly hair and a slim but chiseled face were at the top of a strong build body. "Knave, what are you…"

"Shhhh," he whispered placing a finger against her lips.

Alice brushed him off but whispered, "What are you doing here, I thought we lost you in the marshes."

The knave looked anxious, "Alice they're here. The suits are here looking for you. I heard they were on your trail so I followed them. Why would you come back here of all places?" The Knave of Hearts was a kind man. Nicer than his wife The Duchess. Knave had been a part of the rebellion in Wonderland since the beginning. Born into the kingdom of the Queen of Hearts by an aristocrat, he was demanded to marry the Duchess at just age 10. Since a child he was determined to help the rebels take down the house of cards. Alice was quite fond of the Knave, and they had grown close in the last few years. She didn't get to see him very much since he was playing both sides of the deck. "Alice, they are going to capture you. The tea house is surrounded, there is no way out."

Alice took only a moment to think before shoving her bag and sword into the Knave's hands. "Hide these. Somewhere safe. The Queen can't ever get her hands on any of these items, do you understand?" The knave nodded. They heard a loud bang of the door, and crashing of the plates.

"Where is Alice?" A large voice boomed. "Hand her over and nobody will get hurt."

"I'll be back, I'll find you. Take care of March and Dormouse," Alice whispered and walked around the wooden wall. "Leave everyone alone! I'm right here." She stole a glance towards Mad March who was hiding under the table. They were wanted people in wonderland, and no doubt if the queen found the infamous March Hare or Dormouse, it would be off with their heads. Two large suits approached her, grabbed her and dragged her from the building.

They threw her in a carriage and she found herself face to face with the Queen of Hearts. "Well well," her sultry voice filled the whole of the carriage and Alice sat back on the plush seat. "We finally found you Alice. After years of searching we tracked you down." She sounded so proud that Alice didn't bother to comment on it. It was easy to offend the queen, and just as easy to lose your head.

"Where are you taking me?" Alice asked.

The queen smiled a dark smile that chilled Alice to the bone, and her stomach spun with nerves as she knew she wouldn't like the answer. "Through the Looking Glass."


	3. The New Patient

Alice poked at her food on the tray in front of her. Her distaste was evident in her face and she sighed staring down at the grey mush. Every morning they ate their meals in the dining hall. Nurses helped those around her that couldn't feed themselves. The whole room had a numb feeling, and nobody really spoke. Despite the fact that the asylum did have it's own "cliques", relationships were forced by confinement and conversation was stunted by medication.

Alice wasn't a part of any kind of group here at Rutledge. She preferred to be by herself. Solitude was what she needed to solve the riddles. Solitude was what she needed to accept that she might just be crazy too.

"Lovely place this is," the young man from the day before sat down in front of her. He wore a grey flannel outfit that was issued to every male in the asylum. She looked up and stared hard, trying to convince her mind that he was an illusion. It wouldn't make sense for the Knave to be here of all places. Maybe they just looked alike.

"Quite lovely," she mumbled and took a bite of grey mush. It had no taste. She twisted her face in disgust and put her fork down.

The man watched her closely, he looked as though he was picking his words carefully. "Alice… do you remember me?"

"Perhaps I do, then again I may not. I'm crazy you know."

"You're not mad Alice, I don't…"

"We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad," she stared at him again.

"How do you know I'm mad?" the man asked.

.

"You must be," she replied, "or you wouldn't have come here."

The man leaned closer, his dark eyes searching, pleading for something. "Alice… it's me… Knave. I've come to help you."

Alice shook her head and leaned in close too so her face was just inches away from his. She whispered, "Prove it."

Knave sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Just as stubborn as you've always been. Alice, this isn't a joke." He looked around as though he was worried somebody would hear and held out his hand. "Let's go for a walk."

"I can't just now. I have to see the doctor," Alice stood, picking up her still half full tray. "Perhaps later." She walked from the table her mind in a jumble. She felt like this was a trick. She was almost convinced that she indeed deserved to be here, and now this. Maybe a test? Maybe a trick? Or maybe the Red Queen sent him to finish her off.

When she arrived the doctors room was empty. The room was musty and dark and cold. As though it was made to suck your soul from your body and lock it in the wall. Various floor rugs lined the floor, and curious objects were all around the room. Animals mounted on the wall, things floating in jars. She thought it quite odd to be a psychologist's office. It reminded her of the dungeons below the Queen's palace.

She noticed a large mirror in the corner of the room. She had never noticed it standing there before. It was possibly 6 feet tall, and two feet wide, standing on a firm wooden frame. The frame around the mirror was shining gold with small images carved along it. It looked familiar, and she tried to recall the memory but it seemed like a dream. Alice walked up to the mirror and ran her fingers along the edges. She recognized the carvings of images she had seen before. Mushrooms and dragonflies. Bumbleberry trees. A diamond. A club. Her heart began to race. _This can't be…_

Alice reached towards the glass and felt it start to waver as her hand grew close.

Just then she heard footsteps and two voices approached and she directed her attention to an ugly stuffed hog with it's head protruding from the walls, touching his tusks as if she were interested.

"Alice," the first man said. "We didn't know you had arrived." He was a short ugly fat man, balding on the top. Stubble from a carelessly shaved beard sat in patches on his face.

"If we had we would've come sooner," the second man said. He was identical to the first doctor, enough that you could assume they were twins. The only difference was he was completely bald and not a hair on his chin at all. It made him look like a chubby baby, Alice thought.

"Quite so," the first man added unnecessarily.

Alice eyed them both suspiciously. She had never seen these doctors before. Her time was always spent with Dr. Howard. Besides, they didn't look like doctors. In fact, they almost looked like they should be patients themselves.

"Who are you?" Alice approached with caution, sitting in the plush chair that was offered to her.

The men exchanged a quick glance at one another before the baldest began. "I am Timothy Dee, and this is Thomas Dumm. We are your new doctors Alice."

"Specialists, you could say," Thomas Dumm added. "We are called when situations… escalate."

Alice was offended by this. She thought she had been doing better. "Escalates? How so?"

The men exchanged glances again, picking their words carefully. "We have a few questions for you Alice. We just need some answers."

"To understand," Thomas added in again. "We want to help."

She had heard that a little too many times today for her liking. People didn't just help in Rutledge Asylum. It was always with conditions. She looked between the men waiting for one of them to speak, then down at her hands when they both simply stared back. "Where did you go all those years."

"I don't remember."

"Who is Hatter?"

"I don't know."

Timothy Dee sighed and Thomas gave him a nod. "Why is a Raven like a writing desk Alice?"

She looked up quickly in confusion, "Why do you ask that?"

"The nurses say you ask it in your sleep, and sometimes when you're awake as well. We want to know why. Why you ask it that is. Where did you find such an absurd statement?"

She thought for a moment as if to tell the answer, "I haven't the slightest idea. It came to me in a dream." Alice hoped that answer would be good enough.

Timothy Dee leaned in, looked at his colleague and asked, "Where is the Stone of Wonderland Alice?" A long silence followed, and the doctors stared at her waiting for her to speak but she simply couldn't talk. Something wasn't right. She was sure she never spoke of the stone to anyone or even aloud to herself. _Who are they…_ Timothy placed a hand on her arm and a memory flashed in front of her eyes.

" _Tell us where it is girl!" One man yelled._

" _I don't know what you're talking about!" She screamed, her body feeling like it were being torn limb from limb._

" _The stone you stupid girl! You're going to die for a silly rock?" Another man asked, walking around her tied body. Arms outstretched, bound to two poles that were slowly pulling farther apart._

 _She felt something fall and looked down to see the small piece of parchment she had._

" _What's this?" The first man asked._

" _A note," the second one added unnecessarily._

" _Why is a Raven like a writing desk?"_

" _Curious question."_

" _Indeed."_

" _So tell us Alice. Why is a Raven like a writing desk?"_

Alice gasped and pulled back, trying to hide the horror on her face. She knew how she knew them, and knew she had to get out of there fast.

"What is it Alice?" Timothy Dee asked. "Are you alright?"

Alice nodded and stood, steadying her shaking body. "I can't tell you what you want to know. I simply don't remember doctor. I can't remember." She looked at Thomas Dee and he was leaning back in his chair eyeing her strangely. "Can I be excused?"

Thomas permitted and followed her to the door. "Should you recall any details Alice. Be sure to inform us immediately. We want to help you, and protect you. Should anybody be looking for you…" he patted her shoulder and she swallowed hard, nodded and made her way quickly down the hall. She didn't look back to see the two doctors watching her as she scurried away.

The Asylum grounds were bright and green. Much nicer than the dark and dreary inside. Patients were allowed to roam the grounds freely, as long as they were on good terms with the doctors. Alice had earned free range finally, as enough time passed since her last 'incident'. She ran across the grass until she found the Knave laying in the sun with his eyes closed.

"Knave," she nudged him with her foot. "Wake up!"

He opened his eyes and smiled, "I wasn't sleeping." Noticing the panic in her facial expression he sat up quickly. "What's wrong?"

Alice bent over trying to catch her breath. She hadn't ran in months and forgot how to breathe. As a child and then a Wonderland fighter she used to be able to run for miles. This place had taken a lot from her. "They're…." she stammered until she could stand straight again. "They're here Knave. The Tweedles. They found me. We need to get out of here and fast."

Knave stood up up and stared towards the asylum building. "I had a plan but it was going to take a little longer. If the Tweedles are here, we need to leave before they find out I am here too. How do you suggest we get out?"

Alice smiled and felt a swelling sense of adventure she thought she had lost a long time ago. "I found a looking glass."

As night dimmed the hallways of Rutledge Asylum, the plan was in motion. Alice laid on her bed waiting patiently. She could hear the nurses doing room checks down the hall. They would check hers soon and she would have 15 minutes to meet the Knave and get the hell out of there.

Sure enough she heard a knock, and closed her eyes pretending to sleep. The door clicked open and shut again, locking loudly. She arose and pressed her ear against the door hearing the final click of the security doors down the hall.

Alice removed her boot and twisted the heel, popping it off and removing the small sack of powder hidden inside. Given to the Knave by the white rabbit and then given to her, it contained the dust from the Jadoo Wallah flower that gave magic temporarily to any who inhaled it.

She took a pinch and breathed in deep, returning the pouch to her heel.

"Helius Ouverto" she waved her hand along the door and heard the lock click open.

The hallway was pitch black, but empty. She moved her way quickly towards the end of the hall by the security door careful to be quiet with her steps. The guard was already asleep. She was sure he didn't do much besides sleep during his shift. She waved her hand again and slipped through that door with ease and immediately to the staircase.

Almost there.

She met the Knave at the bottom of the stairs and followed his lead to the main hall. The doctors offices were just around the corner, but the hall was occupied by a few nurses chatting. The Knave smiled, before blowing air on his hand as though he was blowing them a kiss. A thick fog filled the hallway.

In the confusion of the nurses coughing and swatting at the air, Knave and Alice slipped by with no issue. They ran down the hall and into the Tweedle's office.

During the day the room was spooky, but at night it was something worse. Dark shadows fell over it's questionable decor, with nothing but a small dim light from the looking glass filling the room. Knave approached it slowly, inspecting the carvings as Alice had. He reached towards the glass and it wavered beneath his fingers. "That is definitely a looking glass," he nodded. "Where do you think it goes?"

"When I was being held in the Tweedle's dungeon, they had a large mirror like this one. I'm assuming they are connected," she looked around the room for some sort of weapon as there was no telling what was waiting on the other side.

Knave looked skeptically, "Kind of dumb for them to leave this out with the likes of you running around." He smiled at her glare, while poking the glass and watching it ripple like water.

Alice hadn't thought of that. It did seem precarious that they would bring a looking glass to this world, and leave it accessible. There were other ways back to wonderland if you had the right magic. "It might be a trap… we should make a plan."

At that moment the door burst open and the Tweedles came running in. "What are you doing in here?" Tweedle Dee yelled, the top of his head red with anger.

"Snooping around where you don't belong," Tweedle Dumm advanced towards them.

Knave grabbed Alice's hand, "no time for a plan," and pushed her through the mirror following close behind.


	4. The Fork in the Road

As Alice stumbled through the mirror she fell to the floor of the cobblestone dungeon, swearing as her knees hit the floor hard. The knave came crashing behind her, landing beside her on the ground. "Oh, how I don't miss doing that," he grumbled standing up and brushing himself off. He extended a hand to help Alice up which she accepted gratefully.

"We don't have much time. They will know we are here soon enough," she headed for the door and peered into the hallway. "It's clear."

Knave ran down the hall, and Alice followed. They twisted and turned their way through the corridors before entering an old rickety looking elevator. Knave pushed a button and they began the ascent. "We need to get to the Duchess' wing. She is gone to Nauravafor the Kookaburra festival, so we will be safe. Your things are hidden there."

Alice looked at Knave with wide eyes, "you hid my possessions in your home with your wife, the Duchess of Wonderland? Are you insane?"

"What better place could there be? The Red Queen would never suspect that the keys to the fall of the house of cards would be hidden in her own castle," Knave smirked and Alice hit his arm.

"You're mad you know."

"We're all mad here."

The elevator opened and they scampered down a few more hallways and up a few staircases, being sure to not be seen by the suits patrolling the castle. Just as they approached the Duchess' wing and entered through the doors, they could hear alarms beginning to blare alerting the whole castle of their presence.

Knave entered the room and Alice stood by the doorway to stand guard. He pushed a dresser aside and removed the floor boards revealing her belongings stowed away. "Are you serious? You kept _the_ vorpal sword safe under some floor boards?"

"Sometimes Alice the answers lie in the nonsense. Where nothing is what it is, because everything is what it isn't. You see?" She nodded, only a little confused. She was going to need to get used to Wonderland talk again. "Here are your clothes, I retrieved them from lock up back at Rutledge." Alice sighed happy relief, quickly changing into her old adventure attire. It had been a long time since she wore this… it was comforting.

"Alright," she sheathed her sword. "Where do we go now?"

She watched as the Knave opened the bay windows and pointed towards the lake. "We can swim or we can fly." He opened his hand to reveal some of the magic powder.

Alice nodded, grabbing a handful. "Flying it is," and as the doors burst open and the guards rushed in, Alice inhaled the powder and jumped out of the tower window. She plummeted slightly before soaring across the skies.

The sight before her was beautiful. She could see all of Wonderland from this high up, and it was absolutely stunning. The greens and purples and blues of the trees speckled the land throughout and created dense mosaics in the forest. She could see the Calmens mountains in the distance, and the swampy lands of Skallar to the east. She had never seen Wonderland this way and it was breathtaking. She was glad to be home. 

The pair landed on the beach on the other side of the river and quickly ran into the Esconder forest. Known for its dense foliage they could make a quick getaway, hiding amongst its massive leaves and trees. They ran North for several minutes before cutting East towards the swamps. Knave keeping up with her stride for stride, Alice felt a new-found vigor since returning to Wonderland. She felt as if she could run forever. The wind in her hair, the crunching of the forest floor under her feet. She never thought she would get back. For a moment, she truly thought she would be trapped in Rutledge forever.

She stopped abruptly at a fork in the road. A large wooden sign pointing in several directions stood crooked and rotting, looking quite ominous. Alice stared at the sign and scratched her head. One road led into the marshes and swamps of Skallar. The other continued between the wood and swamps towards the Village of Llamas, appropriately named for their raising of Wonderland Llamas (which Alice was surprised to find out are very much like regular llamas. However these ones can talk).

"Where are we going now?" Knave asked, catching his breath.

"I don't know," Alice replied, staring at the sign as if the answer might pop out.

"Well, what is the next step in your quest?"

"I'm not sure."

"Okay, what was the last step?"

"The riddle… Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

"Do you know the answer?"

"Haven't the slightest idea," she frowned.

Suddenly a deep hissing voice spoke, "if ignorance is bliss young Alice, you must be ecstatic." Alice spun around and looked into the trees. She saw the flicking back and forth of his purple striped tail before his bright white smile emerged, and then the rest of his form. He stared at her with a playful glint in his eye, daring her to retort.

Alice and Cheshire Cat always enjoyed a battle of wits. Every since she was a young girl and met him at this very same cross road sign, they always enjoyed banter together. She smiled back and approached the feline. "You've gone quite mangy, Cat. But your grin's a comfort."

"And _you've_ picked up a bit of an attitude. Still curious and willing to learn, I hope?"

"I don't know where i'm going, however, I know where I need to be. How is one to find her way?"

Cheshire paused a moment to lick his paw, "As knowing where you're going is preferable to being lost, _ask_. Caterpillar knows a thing or two, and I, myself, don't need a weathervane to tell which way the wind blows. Let your need guide your behaviour; suppress your instinct to lead; pursue the Blue Caterpillar."

Alice nodded knowingly, and dug around her bag for her map. "And where does he hang his hookah these days?"

The cat nodded in the direction of the path, and Alice sighed in relief that she didn't need to cross the swamp lands. "Just over the humming hills, look for his mushroom, you'll find him soon enough. And I presume you can pick up a few friends along the way."

Circling her map, she folded it up and placed it back inside her bag. "Thank you very much Chesire, you've been a pleasure as always."

"Likewise, young Alice. Do take great care on your journey, troubled times lie ahead," And with one last grin Cheshire disappeared.

The travelling pair started to make their way down the path. "The Cheshire Cat… always lovely speaking to him," Knave mumbled. "What friends are we 'picking up' along the way?"

"March and Dormouse of course!" Alice said with glee. She was very excited to see her friends again.


End file.
